What is Cryptography?

What is Cryptography?

The goal of cryptography is to store and transmit data in a particular form so that only those for whom it is intended for can read and process it. This thing is possible via advanced mathematical principles and as we have stated above, the main goal of cryptography is security.

Short history

Cryptography had been used since 1900 BCE, in Egypt and even the great Roman Emperor, Caesar, used it, his code being named after him, The Code of Caesar. Humans have noticed that by using an encrypted way to transmit data, they could avoid being trapped by their enemies since cryptography had been used at the beginning for military purposes. So, at the beginning, cryptography was heavily used during war periods. Knowing what and how your enemy is communicating can be a decisive factor in determining the winner.

When it comes to cryptocurrencies, cryptography is being used to secure financial transactions of a given system. No matter if we talk about, bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum or any other cryptocurrencies, all systems use cryptography in order to secure how the financial transactions get processed.

Since cryptocurrencies use a decentralized system and all of the information from a particular system are not stored on a single storing hardware machine, an encryptions method is required because all the financial data is distributed among all the computers that take part in that particular system. The technology that enabled that to take place is called blockchain and it is basically a wide network of interconnected computers that store all the information that make the system of a particular digital currency functional. Without the blockchain, crypto currencies would not exist and a blockchain without encryption methods is doomed to failure.

With that being said, this is a brief introduction to cryptography and how it is being used in the cryptocurrency industry.